When white Southerners spoke bitterly in later years of the effects of Reconstruction, they referred most frequently to the governments Congress helped impose on them—governments they claimed were both incompetent and corrupt, that saddled the region with enormous debts, and that trampled on the rights of citizens. When black Southerners and their defenders condemned Reconstruction, in contrast, they spoke of the failure of the national and state governments to go far enough to guarantee …showed first 75 words of 602 total…

…showed last 75 words of 602 total…social reforms. Though some were successes, others were quite detrimental to the southern population for generations to come, both African American and white. Fortunately, time and hindsight allowed the South to redeem itself from its poor conditions. Unfortunately, too much time was wasted quarreling over petty differences, and it is now that we see and understand the errors of our forefathers, and due to this knowledge, none of these events shall occur again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**